Macher



N0. 622,7!7. Patented Apr. ll, I899. J. E. SCHUMACHER-& W. B. MAKINS.

GARMENT SUPPORTEB.

(Applicqtion filed Dec. 20, 1897.)

(No Model.)

NI'IED (STATES PATENT Brien,

JAMES EDWARD SOHUMACHER AND \VALTER RICHARD MAKINS, OF YORK, ENGLAND.

GARMENT-SUPPORTIER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 622,717, dated April 11, 1899. I

Application filed December 20, 1897. Serial No. 662,727- (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that we, JAMESEDWARD SCHU- MAoI-IER, a subject of the King of Prussia, German Emperor, and \VALTER RICHARD MAKINS, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, both residing in the city and county of York, England, have invented new and useful improvements in or relating to means or apparatus for attaching or securing portions of garments or wearing-apparel together, adaptable also for various other purposes, of which the following isa specification.

This invention relates to improvements in means or apparatus for attaching or securin g, say, two portions of a garment or wearingapparel-such as, for example, a belt to a skirt or a blouse to a skirt; but it may also be used for a variety of other purposes such as, for instance, for braces, stocking-suspenders, bag-carriers, and the like.

The object of this invent-ion is to construct neat, light, simple, and inexpensive means or apparatus hereinafter termed the grip or retainer, for the above purposes that will not damage the article to which it is applied, but at the same time will firmly and securely attach the two parts together.

In the drawings hereunto annexed several illustrations are given showing how the invention may be carried into practice.

1 Figure 1 is an elevation of a skirt-grip with its parts shown in position when in use. Figs. 2 and 3 are respectively an elevation and a plan of the-back portion of same. Figs. at and 5 are respectively anelevation and a plan of the front portion of same; Fig, 6, an elevation showing method of disengaging the portions of the skirt-grip; Fig. 7, a part elevation of a skirt and belt partly turned up to show the parts of the skirt-grip in position.

Like parts in all the views are marked with similar letters of reference.

The grip or retainer consists of two plates that is to say, a front plate A and a back plate B-of any suitable thickness,size,shape-(preferably as shown in the drawings,) and mate rial-such as,forinstance,of thin metal,wood, papier-mach, Xylonite, celluloid, or the like ora combination of two or more of them -suit ably stamped, pressed, cast, or molded to the desired shape.

The plates A and B may be made either flat or curved longitudinally, as shown in the drawings, to bed themselves to the wearers back; but in either case they are so arranged that when placed one upon the other, as, say, at Fig. 1, they will engage and lock with each other-as, for instance, one of the plates is provided or armed at its ends or other oonvenient portion with hooks or clips 0, formed by bending over a portion of the plate or attaching thehooksthereto, arranged to taper slightly in a vertical direction, into which the wedge-shaped ends D (with or without projections) are made to pass and engage.

The plates A and B' are provided with suitable holes or apertures H for sewing, riveting, or otherwise fixing or attaching the plates, respectively, to the parts of a garment or other article that are to be secured together.

In the skirt-grip as shown the hooks U are inclined and provided at the ends of the plate A, which are bent over, as shown, to fit the wedges of the plate B. Into these hooks O the wedge-shaped portions D of the plate B are made to pass. The projections d act as stops as well as for assisting in retaining the two plates A and B in engagement when assisting in carrying the weight of the skirt. The wedge portions D of the plate 13 may be slightly thickened by, say, bending over the plate.

In the foregoing description we have described the parts of the skirt-grip as being formed of metal stampings, but it may also be made of any of the other mentioned materials as well as in the manner hereinbefore named.

The grip when used, say, forskirtsand belts or blouses is applied to the parts of the garment as follows: The plate A is sewed or otherwise fixed to the band of the skirt and. the plate B to the belt, as shown at Fig. 7, or vice versa, or for a blouse the plates A and B would be turned the opposite way to that shown at Figs. 1, 6, and 7, with the curved portion of each plate tobe at the back of the user. The

plate B is then placed'over the plate A with the top of, say, the wedges D below the hooks C, so that the plate 13 can be drawn between the plate A and hooks G for engagement therewith, as at Fig. 1. To release the plates IOO A and 13 from engagement with each other, the protuberances a b or the projecting portion of each plate is placed between the finger and thumb, as at Fig. 6. By closing these members of the hand togetherthat is to say, pressing plate A upward and pressing plate B simultaneously downward until the wedge D is separated from its engagement with, say, the hooks Cthe plates will be readily separated.

WVhen in use, the grip, by being very thin, yet strong, produces no unsightly appearance to the wearers dress, as it beds itself to the wearers person.

Having now particularly described the nature of our said invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a grip for attaching and securing two parts of a garment together, the combination of a plate A fixed to one part of a garment and armed with tapering hooks 0 formed by bending over a portion of the plate, with a plate B fixed to another part of the garment and provided with a wedge-shaped portion D and a stop 61 at each end of the said plate, said plates A and B being adapted to slide one upon the other and the wedges D of one plate to engage and lock with the tapering hooks O of the other plate as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto signed our names to this specification in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES EDWARD SCHUMACIIER. WALTER RICHARD MAKINS. Witnesses:

WILLIAM BLANsHAR THOMAS STRETToN. 

